A Pokemon Thanksgiving Story
by MastermindMedley10
Summary: Its close to Thanksgiving and Professor Oak, Delia Ketchum and her Pokemon, Mr.Mime are all stuck at the Oak Lab! Will things start to heat up between Oak and Delia during this blizzard? And what about poor Mr.Mime?  Eldershipping
1. STUCK! MrMime's POV

My first *official* ship fic! And the name of this ship is *drumroll*-ELDERSHIPPING! Yes, Eldershipping. Why Eldershipping? Yes, you thought Eldershipping left along with the 90's and the original Game Boy, didn't you? Well, it does exist. Barely, but it's there. Some of you younger fans probably have no clue what I'm talking about. Eldershipping is the ship between Professor Samuel Oak and Delia Ketchum. Not my favorite ship, to be honest, but I've seen some great fics made out of it, so I thought I'd give it a try. And I thought I'd make this a little fun and switch POV's, heheh…The first chapter is in Mr. Mime's POV. I actually wrote this fic out years ago and I really can't remember if I posted it or not…oops…I've rewritten it and added some stuff (like the POV's) to make it even more fun! I also dedicate this chapter to my little OCD sister who reminds me way too much of Mr. Mime. Enjoy.~

Ch.1 : STUCK! (Mr. Mime's POV)

"Hurry up, Mimie!"

"Mr. Mime!" called the loyal mime Pokémon, as he hurried to follow his Trainer up the path to the well-known Oak Lab in Pallet Town.

It was a gray and chilly November day in the quiet, simple town. With it being so cold so soon and so close to Thanksgiving, the residents had taken to being inside to make plans for the upcoming holiday. But for Delia Ketchum, the sudden cold weather gave her a good excuse to do some extra baking, which then gave her an excuse to visit the Oak Lab to deliver some of her home baked treats.

Which then gave her an excuse to see Professor Samuel Oak…

"Mr. Mime!" pleaded the poor Pokémon, as he attempted to get his Trainer to slow down a bit.

Delia turned to see Mr. Mime puffing to catch up.

"Sorry, Mr. Mime", said Delia, as she petted her Pokémon's head with affection, "I didn't mean to go so fast. I'm just trying to hurry out of the cold."

"Mime!" retorted Mr. Mime under his breath with a roll of his eyes. His Trainer, in her oblivion, missed his reaction as she began to head up the steps of the lab and rang the doorbell.

"'…_trying to hurry out of the cold'? Ha!" _thought the Pokémon, as he followed at her heels and stood behind her at the door, holding a basket of pumpkin bread cautiously in his arms. You could never be too careful at the Oak Lab…

"_Everyone and their mother's know Delia and that slob, Oak have a thing for one another. Well, except maybe Ash and his friends, but they're not too bright, either…" _Mr. Mime continued in his thoughts as Delia rang the doorbell again and straightened her hunter green sweater beneath her light gray coat. It took all of Mr. Mime might not to gag at the reaction. He knew why she was really doing it…to get that old man to notice her.

"_Like he'd notice, anyway," _thought Mr. Mime, _"He's always a mess in that tacky lab coat of his…really, doesn't he ever wash it? Or open a fashion magazine?" _

Mr. Mime was admittedly jealous over the fondness between Professor Oak and his Trainer, Delia. It wasn't an outright fondness like it was between him and his Trainer; like when Delia gave him a compliment or petted his head. No, their fondness was more subtle. Like all these trips to this disgusting lab that the old man occupied. This guy may be a genius, but he has apparently never heard of a broom or mop…Or the times when the professor rode his bike around. He always-_always_-rode right past their house. And his little trips around the neighborhood seemed to always be on the days that they were working in the garden. The two always shoved it off as coincidental.

"'_Coincidental' my foot!" _continued Mr. Mime in his thoughts, as Delia rang the doorbell for a third time, this time straightening her auburn hair in its pony-tail. _"More like 'convenient', if you ask me…" _

And this old man was always the perfect gentleman. Another reason why Mr. Mime couldn't stand him.

After a fourth ring, Delia sighed and turned to her Pokémon companion in a bit of disappointment.

"He must be busy, Mimie-"

"_Or he's lost himself in that Arceus-forsaken dump of a laboratory of his…" _thought Mr. Mime grimly.

"_Or even better: he blew himself up."_

"-we'll just check tomorrow if it's not too cold."

"Mr. Mime!" replied Mr. Mime, not wanting to give way to his true feelings of the old man to his Trainer. She really liked him, he could tell. And he was pretty sure the old guy liked her back. Which was why he didn't like the old guy. And if they were not coming tomorrow if it was too cold, he hoped that there would be a blizzard that night.

As they turned to leave, a muffled sound came from behind the door. Delia spun around with a wide grin on her face, while Mr. Mime suppressed a groan. And they were so close, too….

The door flew open to reveal a massive purple blob with a large mouth and a set of eyes.

"_MUKKKK!_" it cried in delight at the sight of Delia and Mr. Mime.

If there was one being he couldn't stand more than Professor Oak that lived in that lab (he wasn't a big fan of Ash's friend, Brock, either…or any of his friends, now that he thought about. But mostly Brock.), it was this creature. Muk. The name suited it just fine. It was slimy and gross and smelly and repulsive and just-yuck! And 'yuck' rhymed with 'Muk'. And while Mr. Mime wasn't positive of the gender of this revolting Pokémon, he was fairly certain it was a female, as it just adored male attention. But, Mr. Mime had been referring Muk as an 'it' to be on the safe side. So far, it had been too stupid to notice…

"Muk?" exclaimed Delia in shock, "Where is Professor Oak?"

Muffled cries could be heard under the bulk of this great oil spill of a Pokémon.

Delia gasped in shock at the realization of the situation. "Muk! Get off Professor Oak! Now! He can't breathe!"

Reluctantly, Muk removed itself from its caretaker, who was revealed as a disheveled heap. Not looking too much different than usual, in Mr. Mime's opinion…

"Professor Oak!" cried Delia, as she began to help the old man to his feet, "Are you alright?"

Once the old man had gotten to his feet and straightened his worn white lab coat, he smiled at his guest.

"I'm fine, Delia! Sorry about answering so late; I was doing some research in the back of the lab, and then Muk got a hold of me. Speaking of which, Muk back into your ball!"

The professor brought out a small white and red sphere from his white lab coat pocket and enlarged it with a tap of the button. He turned the orb towards Muk, who disappeared in a flash of red light.

"What brings you both over anyway?" asked the professor as he ushered them into his living room.

Ah, his living room. How Mr. Mime despised it. Dusty…unorganized…and who picked out the furniture? And don't even get him started on the carpet or curtains…he couldn't contain himself any more. He grabbed a feather duster from the nearby closet and got to work, making sure he could hear every word of the old man and Delia's conversation.

"Well, with the weather being so cold, Mr. Mime and I had been doing some baking and came over to bring you and Tracey some treats," said Delia, as she settled herself down in the couch.

"How thoughtful!" replied the professor, as he sat down in the chair opposite of her from across the small coffee table, "But, I'm afraid that Tracey's not here. I let him off early for the holidays."

Delia beamed and began to place the items that she brought on the table between them. "More for you then, right? Let's see…we have pumpkin bread, ginger snaps, oatmeal cookies-"

"Oh, my," laughed Oak, as he examined the items on the table, "Mrs. Ketchum, you're going to make me gain more than a few holiday pounds…"

He then blushed slightly and looked up at her.

"I mean, _Delia_."

Mr. Mime turned his head so that the two of them wouldn't catch him biting his bottom lip. This was just too much...they had been on first name basis for years, but not so much in public. They didn't want anyone to think that they were more than friends, which they claimed they was true…but Mr. Mime didn't even have to be a Psychic Pokémon to see that that wasn't the case.

Delia blushed at the remark as she turned to Mr. Mime.

"Mimie, think you can go grab us some plates and napkins? Oh, and glasses and milk, please!"

Mr. Mime obeyed and used his Psychic abilities to levitate the items on the table to hurry with the task. He wanted to hear what these two had to say…

"…and Ash and his friends aren't going to be here in time because of that?" asked Oak.

"Unfortunately," sighed Delia, as she began to cut up some slices of bread and place them on the plates.

Mr. Mime knew what she was talking about. Ash and his friends were doing some training up in the mountains of Sinnoh and got caught in an awful blizzard. Thankfully, they were in a Pokémon center and didn't get caught in it, but for safety's sake, they aren't allowed to leave until it's been cleared by the center. And by the looks of things, they weren't going to be allowed leave until after Thanksgiving, which had disappointed Delia, but she took the news with understanding. She was just grateful that everyone was alright.

"And what about your family, Sammie?"

Oak took a sip of his milk and sat back with his plate of bread.

"Gary is out doing research on the behavioral patterns of Ice type Pokémon and Daisy is with my son and daughter-in-law up at their cabin in Sinnoh. I'm supposed to meet up them later, but with my work being so backed up lately and this strange weather, its questionable. And Gary is likely going to miss Thanksgiving with the family, too. With the cold weather coming in so fast this year, it's perfect to do Ice type research. He may not have another chance to do this type of study for years. He said that he'll try to make it, but knowing him, it's probably not going to happen. He'll likely get bogged down with work or lose track of time, or be caught in this cold weather", Professor Oak took a bit of bread and continued. "He's too much like me some days…"

"I'm sorry that you're going to miss spending Thanksgiving with your family," said Delia as she nibbled on her cookie.

Oak shrugged. "It happens, and in the research business, it happens a lot. You never know when you may get a lead on some sort of rare find. The family is used to it, but I admit, I'd much rather spend the holidays with the grandkids than spend the holidays with a bunch of sour professors."

His remark got a giggle out of Delia. He continued, "I'm sorry that you have to spend the holiday alone. But who knows, maybe Ash and the gang will be able to make it in time!"

Delia sighed and looked down. "I hope so. But with Thanksgiving being only two days away, I doubt it…"

"Just be positive, Delia."

Delia looked up and smiled at the kind gentleman. "Thanks, Sammie."

They continued to chat about the usually things. Boring things, in Mr. Mime's opinion. Weather, news, etc., etc.

"_I just don't see how he has all the time in the world to talk to Delia, yet he seems so busy when it comes to cleaning",_ thought Mr. Mime angrily to himself as he polished a silver figurine of a Suicune of the shelf. Within the hours that the two love Pidgey spent talking, Mr. Mime had swept, dusted, polished and had now moved on to organizing the living room. The two took little notice of him. Of course. He always cleaned at the Oak Lab. The old man had just assumed that he enjoyed cleaning with Delia so much that cleaning was more of a game than a compulsion.

"_And this guy is really an 'expert' Pokémon? Gimme me a break." _

Mr. Mime cleaned the lab out of what he thought was a necessity and for the better health of his Trainer. And for the good of Pokémon-kind, really. Imagine all the dust that had settled into his head by now. If, he, Mr. Mime, had not started cleaning, this guy would really be off his rocker. And he's working around chemicals and electricity and who knows what else!

"_I really should get an award or something…" _thought Mr. Mime to himself as he continued placing the books on the freshly dusted bookshelf in their proper order.

Suddenly, a loud howling noise caused all three to stop what they were doing and look around.

"What was that?" asked Delia with a sense of panic in her voice.

Oak stood up and began to walk towards the window, his hand drawing out a Poke'Ball from his coat pocket. "It's alright, Delia. I won't let you get hurt."

"Mr. Mime!" stated Mr. Mime with authority as he firmly placed himself protectively in front of Delia. No way was he going to let that old man play the hero with him around…

Oak walked up to the high ceiling window and threw back the curtain. What they saw shock them all.

"Snow?" exclaimed Oak and Delia, while Mr. Mime chimed in with a "Mime?"

Indeed, the strange weather had hit Pallet Town in full force. A blizzard, which was rarely seen in that area and only later in the winter, had suddenly and violently erupted. From the comforts of the Oak Lab, the two humans and Pokémon could see that snow was swirling about in frenzy and the wind was tugging wildly at the trees. The howling they had heard was the wind beating ferociously against the window.

Oak and Delia turned to each in surprise, and all three of them were thinking the same thought: _What now? _

Delia started first. "Maybe I could-"

"There's no way I'm allowing you to head back by yourself", interrupted Oak as he crossed his arms and turned back to the window.

"'Allowing me'?" asked Delia pointedly.

"You know what I mean", replied Oak with a smirk.

Mr. Mime felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Oh, no…oh, no, no, no…he wasn't really suggesting…

"I could try to Teleport…"

"Too risky", said Oak, "In a storm like this, a Pokémon's Teleport could easily get off course."

As insulted as Mr. Mime was that this old man was suggesting that he couldn't manage to Teleport Delia back, it was with great displeasure that he had to agree. He needed complete concentration to be able to Teleport, especially where hitting the mark in a situation like this was key. Without that, he could wind up getting them lost in the storm. Teleporting during any extreme situation was dangerous.

Oak paused and thought for a moment. "I could try to drive you back…"

"Don't even think of it, Sammie!" said Delia, "That's more dangerous than Teleporting!"

"You're right…"

"_Oh, no! They are running out of options! Please, for the love of Arceus, think of something!" _Mr. Mime thought to himself in desperation. He had absolutely no desire to stay at this Grumpig-sty for the night.

Oak looked over at Delia, his face turning red.

"Well, I would have no problems with you staying in a guest room, Delia…" he said nervously.

Now it was Delia's turn to turn red. "I don't want to be a bother. And your reputation-"

"Forget 'reputation'", snorted Oak. He smiled at the pretty auburn. "If that's your only concern, let me show you to your room. And you wouldn't be a bother. It'd be nice to have company…and to help out someone as pretty and thoughtful as you."

At that reply, Mr. Mime began to sway on his feet and a strong feeling of faint came upon him.

This was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of Chapter 1

That was fun (for you, I hope…)! And for the record, Mr. Mime is over exaggerating the uncleanliness of the Oak Lab, as he is obsessive about his cleaning. It's not as bad as he's making it out to be, but Oak is still the elderly bachelor who lives there along with Tracey, a young bachelor, so the lab is not completely tidy either. Thanks for reading (and double thanks for reviewing ;))!

~MastermindMedley10


	2. Daydreams Delia's POV

Hi, gang! OK, so Chapter 2 will be told in Delia's point of view. This chapter isn't as long as some others that I have on this site (in fact, I'd wager to say it's the shortest chapter I've ever written…), but it is short and sweet, just like Delia! I enjoyed writing this chapter and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it. And this chapter is one reason why this fic is rated "T". I won't go into details, as doing so will spoil the chapter, but just know that Delia is a naughty girl, heheh….consider yourself warned. Nothing goes into detail, though. Enjoy!~

Ch. 2: Daydreams (Delia's POV) 

As Professor Oak led Delia down a hallway, she couldn't help but feel like a jittery schoolgirl. She was alone with Samuel for the first time, and not by coincidence either, like a few minutes alone before Ash and the kids barged in the room or a minute or two to talk privately at one of Sammie's party's at his lab. She was truly alone. Even Mr. Mime had returned himself to his Poke'Ball once he heard that they were staying over. He had begun to sway some and returned himself immediately. Poor dear must've been tired.

Delia stayed a step or two behind the professor as he navigated them around his home and to a neat cream colored bedroom. Besides a few framed photos of Pokémon, everything was cream colored; carpet, bedspread, curtains, even the lampshade. Despite its lack of color, when Oak flicked on the light, it gave off a cozy and inviting feel.

Or maybe that was just her…

Oak turned to Delia with a gentle smile on his face.

"I'm no decorator at all, but the room is yours for tonight, or any time, for that matter…"

Delia stifled a giggle at the way Samuel's cheeks turned red at the comment.

"I…uh…t-that is to say, if you are ever in any need again," stammered Oak quickly in an attempt to smooth over the forward comment.

As Oak continued telling Delia about where everything was in her new room, Delia began to daydream and not pay much attention to his directions and instructions. Delia smiled at Oak, flattered at his attempt to impress her as a good host. Being the widowed mother of a hyperactive teenage Pokémon Trainer, not too many people had tried to impress her since the death of her husband nearly ten years ago. Not that that was always the case. Occasionally she got a compliment when out shopping and she was even asked out on a few dates, which she sometimes went on. But for another man to go over and beyond common generosity was foreign to Delia, outside of her late husband, Andy. And Sammie's age was something she could easily overlook, especially with that charming smile of his…or the nice view she got of his rear went he bent down to pick up a fork at his last Christmas party. Not to mention how dashing he looked in his suit and tie at his formal parties, like the ones at Christmas and New Year's. And he was in great shape, too, even in that lab coat of his.

Delia snapped out of her fantasy and blushed when she realized that Samuel had asked her something.

"You alright, Delia?" asked the professor, his brow furrowed in concern.

"F-fine", stuttered Delia, as she also realized that that look of concern of his was very cute. Another thing to add to her lists of 'likes'…

"Need me to repeat anything?"

"N-no!" stammered Delia hastily, as she realized that she must've really zoned out for Professor Oak to notice, "I've got it. Bathroom is right across the hall, towels and toiletries are in the closet and extra blankets are in the top drawer."

"And there are some larger shirts for you to sleep in tonight in the second shelf", said Oak, as he pointed to the set of dresser drawers in the bedroom. "When you change, just leave your laundry in the basket in the bathroom. I'll wash everything tomorrow, if you don't mind wearing men's clothes for tomorrow."

"Not at all!"

Oak continued sheepishly. "Yeah, I've never had a female assistant before and I donated all of Gloria's things when she passed. I used to keep some extra clothes here for Daisy, but I just haven't lately…"

"Samuel, its fine", said Delia with her brightest smile. Reality was starting to set in: she was really staying at Samuel's tonight.

Oak smiled back and it took all of Delia's strength not to push him on the bed as they said their good-night's and he left, closing the bedroom door behind him.

Delia quickly showered and left her clothes in the basket for the laundry. Being without a hair-dryer meant the tedious process of towel drying her hair, but it was worth it in her opinion. She was without her make-up and clothes, so she may as well make her hair as fabulous as possible under the circumstances. In a way, she cursed her misfortune at being at the Oak Lab. Sure, the idea of staying over at Samuel's house greatly appealed to her (even more so was the idea of staying over in the same bed as Sammie…), but she couldn't even look decent! No jewelry, sexy clothes, make-up...not even a brush. She hoped that he thought of her as attractive as she thought of him…

With pleasant thoughts of Samuel in her head, she turned off the lamp and crawled under the covers. In a matter of seconds, she was sleeping soundly, a small smile on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of Chapter 2

Delia, you bad girl! Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter of this fic. I'll be posting Chapter 3 soon, which I predict to be much longer than this.

Oak's turn next time!

Until you read again,

~MastermindMedley10


	3. Internal War Wages Oak's POV

Hello, hello! Chapter three is up and I must say that I have never written anything quite like this- it's so scandalous! I love it! This chapter is told in Professor Oak's point of view this time and my, oh my, professor! I was actually blushing and laughing pretty hard during my writing of this. I dedicate this chapter to BabehGirl and W0lfsong who are also two fanfic authors on here as well as two great friends of mine in real life! Let's just say that I used much of their inspiration from over the years…heheh…This chapter, while not going into detail, covers a couple of things a few of you kiddies may not be old enough to read yet. This chapter is a big reason why I rated this fic as "T". Some may think that I over rate my fics, but I'd rather over rate a fic than get in huge trouble underrating it. Enjoy!~

Ch. 3: Internal War Wages (Oak's POV)

Professor Oak awoke early the next morning feeling elated. Delia Ketchum was in his home right this moment. No other (human, at least) was around. Just him and her. His dreams that night has been filled with thoughts of her…her beautiful auburn hair, her clear brown eyes, her tinkling laugh, her warm smile, the way her hips moved when she walked…

_Mind out the gutter, Sammie…_

He couldn't seem to get his mind off her as he went and started to shower.

He had known Delia her entire life and Oak had always thought of Delia as attractive, but it wasn't until a few years ago that he really began to see her attractiveness in a different light. When her husband died suddenly, she remained strong; she raised Ash and placed him as her top priority, which Samuel had greatly admired about her; when his own wife had died a few years later, she had comforted him, helped out at his lab, and even made him some meals during his time of mourning; and, of course, his view of her attractiveness drastically changed when he went up to her home late one evening to deliver a message from Ash. She had answered with her hair wet and hanging loose as opposed to the usual pony-tail she usually had it up in and wearing nothing but a silk bathroom. Being a tad oblivious (a trait that she and her son seemed to share…) she didn't find the situation awkward at all and Oak thanked the Pokémon gods above that it was getting dark early and her porch light was out so she didn't seem to catch him gawking or turning beet red. He had to ride around on his bike for a while after that…

_Or the time she wore that very nice green bikini at Puerto Vista…and then asked you to rub sunscreen on her back…_

Oak grinned a little too fondly of the memory of their trip with the Pallet Town Volunteer Patrol to Puerto Vista. And all the times that she came to his lab for his parties dressed in some beautiful, form fitting gown…

It wasn't until recently that he believed that she began to notice his attractiveness towards her. He wasn't quite sure if it was something he said or if she had just figured it out on her own. He just started noticing how she blushed when he looked her way or how she always seemed to find an excuse to come over or how she started calling more frequently to check on Ash, even though she knew Oak always called her immediately after any conversation with the boy.

When he first realized that she knew, he was mortified and ashamed. He wasn't planning on going anywhere in his fondness for her. He was content with admiring her from afar and placing what he referred to as his 'male tendencies' on the back burner. He had a reputation to uphold in the Pokémon community and he didn't want a simple friendship to be perceived wrong and get out of control. He had to think of his family, too. He was positive that his son and daughter-in-law would have frowned at any relationship outside of an innocent friendship with a much younger woman. And he didn't want to offend Delia either. In fact, that was the last thing he wanted, over reputation and all. He valued their friendship and didn't want to ruin it with his feelings. Besides, he was an old, eccentric widower with a son who was a bit older than Delia and two grandkids. Who'd want him? Delia was young and very attractive-a great match for any well-respected man. In fact, before he found himself thinking too fondly over her, Sammie had actually introduced her to some young, intelligent and handsome researchers that visited the ranch and encouraged the men to ask her out. She went out with a few, but it never seemed to go anywhere.

As he started drying off, one thought that he had kept very much away from the forefront of his mind came up.

_What if she likes you, too? _

As he began to get dressed, he entertained the idea. Yes, what if she does like you? What then? Undoubtedly, the Pokémon community would be in shock at the discovery that Oak had a thing for a much younger woman. And his family would be mortified. Well, maybe not Daisy. She and Oak had always had a close relationship. With no daughters of his own, Oak had spoiled her doubly. She still called and visited quite often. And she had a good head on her shoulders. Oak could imagine his granddaughter accepting a 'could be' relationship with Delia, if not encouraging it. As for his son, Josh and his daughter-in-law, Beth…not so much. They were both into keeping an image. Well, Beth much more than Josh. Oak remembered with embarrassment how during a family get together at their home a year or so after the passing of his wife, Josh had asked at the dinner table if Oak had thought of seeing anyone. Oak, being pleased that Josh seemed to encourage him in dating after the passing of his mother, had mentioned that he hadn't really thought of it, but didn't have an issue with seeing other women. That's when Beth had so rudely given her opinion, which was an elderly widower, like himself, shouldn't think of such things. Dating at his age was deplorable, didn't he know? And what of poor Gloria, bless her soul? Josh had attempted to defend his father and settle down his high society wife, but it was to no avail, and Josh just shook his head and remained quiet. Gary, being too young to realize, only mentioned that girls were icky and Daisy, who had always been very mature and understanding for her age, simply said that she thought the idea of Grandpa dating was sweet. Both comments had diverted the attention away from Oak, which was something he greatly appreciated. Oak had later slipped them both a stick of Bubblebeam Bubble gum, a forbidden item at the home of the younger Oak's as Beth was a dentist and health nut, out of appreciation of their contribution to the conversation. And he secretly gave Daisy an extra piece with a knowing wink. Yes, Daisy would be fine. Josh could possibly convince Beth to keep her thoughts to herself about the idea of him dating, though when he had mentioned his father dating, Delia probably wasn't who he had in mind. And Gary would freak right out, but Oak could actually see Gary take to the idea…after a bit of convincing. OK, a _ton_ of convincing…And what of Ash if they started dating? Poor boy would probably have a heart attack…they'd have to take anything between them very slow for his benefit.

There was something else that he wondered about: what about Gloria? The thought of her came to Oak's mind as he began to change into some clothes.

They had known each other nearly their entire lives. When she died, Oak had never felt such loss and sadness. The two of them had discussed it before; if one of them were to die before the other, would the other minded if they saw other people? The answer was a definite 'no' and it was actually encouraged to the other to find someone else to share their life with. But, when Gloria passed so suddenly, Oak couldn't bring himself to see others. He saw it as an insult to her memory. His colleagues had set him up on a few blind dates and introduced him with plenty of female researchers who were age-appropriate to date, but it just never went anywhere.

Besides, Delia probably didn't think too much of him anyway…

Once changed into a pair of thick, loose khakis and a dark navy sweater (he figured he'd dress down today since it was just Delia and he wasn't expecting any other visitors), Oak went over to the kitchen to see what he could find. The thought actually depressed him some; he had not gone shopping in quite some time and with this wacky weather that was happening, he was predicting his cupboards would be bare for a while…

When he walked in, the sight he saw made him walk right back out. He leaned behind the wall of the entrance to the kitchen and clutched his heart. His heart was pounding, his felt light-headed and he sensed his blood pressure sky rocketing. Dizziness overcame him as he felt the room spin and he suddenly felt the need to sit in some ice water for a couple hours, despite the freezing temperatures outside.

He also started to wrestle internally within himself. He attempted to let objective morality win, but lustfulness didn't really have to put up a fight.

_She's hot! _

_Samuel, that's not right…she's your friend…_

_She can be my friend any day! Did you see those legs? _

_Really Samuel, you're old enough to be her father!_

_She can call me 'Daddy' and anything else that beautiful brunette head of hers can think of!_

_Think of your reputation! _

_Screw 'reputation'…and screw some other things too…_

_Samuel! This is getting out of line! You are abusing your friendship with Delia! _

With that last thought, lustfulness quieted down…some.

Oak took several gulps of air to calm himself. Morality won this time, but it sure did have to put of a fight. And he could still feel the lustfulness of the argument settle comfortably in a secluded space in his mind. It seemed to wait for another time to appear. And that time just may be soon…

Oak mentally prepped himself to reenter the kitchen. He severely hoped that Delia didn't see him enter and then leave again…he really didn't know how he'd explain the situation.

As Oak reentered the kitchen, Delia was still standing on her tip-toes balanced in a chair with her head in a cupboard.

Right across from him

Wearing nothing but a large T-shirt.

The shirt went to a bit above her knees and was loose, but with her on her tip toes with her back facing him, Oak still got a generous view. Oak took a deep breath and settled himself down at the bar, trying to divert his attention, to no avail.

"Hi, Sam!" came the cheery voice of Delia, which was echoed due to her head being in the cupboard. She spun her head around and beamed at the old man, her hair whipping with the action.

Oak gulped. This woman was not making it easier on him.

"I went ahead and started some breakfast. I hope you don't mind."

"N-not at all…" Oak managed weakly as he noticed for the first time the heavy smell of pancakes cooking.

"I was trying to make some bacon," said Delia, as she climbed down from the chair and scooted it over to the next set of cabinets, "But I can't seem to find a good skillet for it."

As she started to climb up the chair, Oak got another generous view of her smooth and toned upper thigh. He gave a shuddering moan and covered his eyes with his hand. What was she doing to him? Did she have any clue what she was putting him through? It was quite obvious that she didn't, though he didn't see how. She could be so oblivious some days…It was as if she was used to making breakfast scantily clad.

_Maybe she is? One could always hope…_

Oak tucked that idea aside as well as he said shakily to Delia before his thoughts got completely out of control, "Look to the far left of that cabinet. It should be in the back."

When Delia got to the fullest extent on her toes as she could, Oak covered his eyes with both hands and stared down until he heard her clamber down the chair.

Delia gave the skillet a little wave towards the professor as she set it on top of a free spot on the stovetop. "Found it! Thanks!"

As she clicked on the stovetop, she turned towards the professor and looked at him in concern.

"You alright, Sammie? You look a little flushed. And why is your hand rubbing your temples like that?"

Sam quickly dropped his hands. He didn't realize that he was doing that.

"Just a headache, Delia," said Oak hurriedly, not wanting to go into the real reason why, "Don't worry."

Delia nodded and turned her attention back to her pancakes. "You're probably just hungry. I was looking through your cabinets, Sam, and you really don't have a lot. What do you and Tracey normally eat?"

"Take-out", answered Oak nonchalantly, thankful that the conversation topic had turned safe and it had not dwelled on his sudden 'symptoms'. He was also very appreciative that Delia didn't seem to notice his reaction to her in the slightest.

Oblivion. It was a trait to be grateful for some days.

Delia shook her head as she flipped a pancake over in the pan. "You need to eat better, Sammie. With all your running around, you really can't afford a poor diet."

Oak smirked and felt touched that she seemed genuinely concerned over his diet. He started to feel himself getting a better hold over his emotions and his heart return to a somewhat normal pace.

_You can do this, Sammie…_

"I looked outside this morning," said Delia, her attention focused on getting the next pancake out of the steaming pan and onto a nearby plate, "We're surrounded by snow! Three, maybe even close to four feet of it. I was actually surprised that your electricity was still on."

Oak gave a low whistle at the news. "Close to four feet of snow? That's insane! I have lived in Pallet all my life and have never seen or heard of that sort of thing happening here. And as for the electricity still working, I have the lab running on a super powerful generator in case of emergencies, so we don't need to worry about the electricity going out."

"That's good."

Much to Oak's gratitude, the conversation stayed on safe topics for the remainder of breakfast. Occasionally his thoughts did linger to where he knew that they ought not to go, but he kept himself in check. It did give him great disappointment when he had to leave Delia to go tend to the other chores at the lab.

He could sit and talk to her forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of Chapter 3

BWAHAHA! Poor professor! And Delia doesn't have a clue! Well, I hope that you readers will never watch Pokémon the same way again….I have scarred you for life! MWAHAHA!

Mr. Mime will be making a return appearance next time!

Happy reading!

~MastermindMedley10


	4. Lunchtime! Mr Mime's POV

Sorry about the delay, folks! I don't believe that it was too long of a wait, but nevertheless. I've had school and just life in general, but hopefully this chapter will be worth it all to you. It's in Mr. Mime's POV this time and while nothing is described, I would insist that anyone under the recommended age for this fic to skip it. Or skip the fic altogether. A very difficult chapter to write for me, as I got writer's block in the middle of it, but it should be enjoyable anyways. Enjoy!~

Ch. 4: Lunchtime! (Mr. Mime's POV)

Mr. Mime woke up the next morning with a heavy blanket on top of him in an unfamiliar bed.

Where was he? This wasn't his home! And where was Delia?

"_MUKKK!"_

It was with a sudden and quick sense of dread that Mr. Mime remembered exactly where he was and what bed he was sleeping in. He sat up quickly and used an attack known as 'Barrier' to stop Muk from dive bombing on him in the bed. The beast was stupid enough to keep running up against Mr. Mime's clear protective shield like a fly running repeatedly into a window.

Mr. Mime gagged at the large glob. And gagged again when he realized that he was in an assistant's bed at the disgusting Oak Lab.

Needless to say, he was in desperate need of Germ-X ASAP and scented, preferably.

Mr. Mime went ahead and finished his Barrier attack on Muk. When Mr. Mime left the room to go find Delia, the massive purple blob was trapped within a small, invisible box.

And yet it was _still _going head first in the same direction like a misdirected fly.

Mr. Mime just shook his head. He didn't feel bad about trapping it like that. If anything, he'd kept it safe from harming itself and others for the time being and the barrier did fade after a while. Mr. Mime walked quickly in his attempt to find Delia. He looked behind every door and even occasionally stopped to listen for the sound of her voice. The lab was huge, so finding his Trainer with no idea where she was quite a task. But, he wanted to find her quickly, before Oak did.

_Oak. _

The name alone put Mr. Mime walking at a faster pace, his teeth gritted and his brow furrowed. The last thing he wanted was that old man to be pulling the moves on her.

Like an ancient Pokémon fossil like him even _had _any moves. Mr. Mime shuddered at the thought.

Ew. Just 'ew'.

Especially with Delia. Poor woman was as nice as she could be, but she could be so ditzy sometimes. And she was completely oblivious to the fact that she was a very attractive individual and the effect she had on the male variety. Yes, Mr. Mime noticed the stares and gaping mouths from some of these males when they were out. Reminded him of a caught Magikarp, to be perfectly honest.

Mr. Mime stumbled into a back door and realized that it lead to one of the old man's main lab rooms where he kept some of the Pokémon. Mr. Mime crept further in, hiding himself behind large machinery. You never knew what was lurking about in this zany lab…It wasn't long before he realized that this was one of the further rooms. The old man fed the Pokémon each morning. Mr. Mime assumed that he started from the beginning and moved himself further back during the feeding routine. He wasn't sure of the time, but he knew that the old man had to be in the middle of feeding the Pokémon now and that this would probably be the last room he would visit.

Mr. Mime suddenly heard a metallic clang and the rhythmic pattern of footsteps on the linoleum floor.

"Last feeding for the morning…" he heard the old man mutter to himself. Was he a Psychic Pokémon, or what?

Mr. Mime peeked behind his hiding place to see the old man fiddle with some buttons on a small piece of machinery next to the wall of lined Poke'Balls. In a sudden flash of light, a Teddiursa, Staryu, Raichu, Swablu, Smeagle, Skitty, Taillow, Piplup, Spearow and Gengar appeared.

Of course. With the weather like it was, the professor had to feed the Pokémon the old fashion way instead of just releasing everybody outside. And of course he could only release a few at a time, as releasing all the Pokémon in the lab would get chaotic.

Poor guy. Mr. Mime knew that the work had to be tedious. He probably should lend a hand.

Nah.

Mr. Mime quickly escaped without being seen and continued his search for Delia. A thought struck him: it was almost lunchtime.

Delia was in the kitchen!

Mr. Mime quickly navigated his way to the kitchen of the Oak Lab and stopped dead in his tracks at the entrance of the kitchen when he saw his Trainer.

_Dear Arceus, please tell me that the old man didn't see her like this!_

Delia turned from the hot stove to face her Pokémon, her hair in a high pony tail and the loose shirt she wore turning with her actions. Her cheeks were flushed from having her head over the steaming pot.

"Good morning, Mimie!" beamed Delia, as she tucked away a fly away hair. Mr. Mime could only stare.

She really was clueless, wasn't she?

She turned her attention back on her cooking. "I'm making vegetable soup for lunch with some left over frozen veggies that Sammie had sitting in the back of his freezer. It's almost ready, but if you're hungry now, there's some leftover pancakes from my and Sammie's breakfast…"

_So he _had _seen her like this!_

"…I let you out of your ball early this morning because I know that you don't sleep well in it. Sammie should be finishing up and then we'll eat lunch together. Mimie, be a dear and finish with the soup while I go change. I had my clothes in the wash all morning."

Happy to help her get in less revealing clothing, Mr. Mime jumped right to the task of stirring the soup with a cheerful "Mime!" as Delia left.

Mr. Mime stirred the soup with ill thoughts in his head. The old man had seen Delia like this…what was she thinking? And what if this whole thing led to another? Like if they started becoming more than friends and actually went out on dates? Then got engaged….then marriage….then….

Mr. Mime felt light-headed. He couldn't bear the thought of _that. _

"Good morning, Mr. Mime!"

The sound of his archrival's voice made Mr. Mime jump and spin around towards the old man, who came into the kitchen with a smile on his wrinkled face.

Seeing him only made Mr. Mime's thoughts go where they ought not to go.

_Don't think about it, Mr. Mime…the idea is ludicrous! You'll give yourself nightmares thinking such thoughts…_

"Anything I can do to help, Mr. Mime?" asked the old man as he started to approach the nerve raked Pokémon.

"Mr. Mime!" exclaimed Mr. Mime, as he shook his head 'no' vigorously and quickly turned back to his task. To prove his point, he used the attack 'Psychic' to levitate spoons and bowls from the drawers and cabinets and neatly onto the kitchen table.

The last thing he needed was the old man helping him to show off to Delia.

Oak gave a chuckle and settled himself in a chair at the table. "Looks like you've got it taken care of then, Mr. Mime. Impressive."

_You better believe I'm impressive…_

Mr. Mime continued to cook the soup and anxiously waited for Delia to return; being in the same room alone with his rival only made him antsy. By the time Delia arrived back wearing a pair of jeans and a hunter green sweater, the soup had finished cooking and Mr. Mime was dipping some out into the bowls.

"Thank you, Mimie!" said Delia, as she seated herself in the chair closest to the old man, who Mr. Mime noticed looked a little too pleased at the fact.

"Mime!" responded Mr. Mime as he seated himself at the table as well.

As the three of them began to eat, Mr. Mime couldn't help but notice how the two of them interacted. Both were smiling and looked eager to hear what the other had to say during conversation. Delia was being touchy-feely with the old man; tapping his shoulder, nudging his elbow, touching his arm when he said something funny. And the old man's eyes lit up like Christmas lights when she spoke. Mr. Mime noted that he did not return her touches (to which Mr. Mime was grateful…the old man would've gotten a few teeth knocked out for that). Instead, he treated the touches like a shy schoolboy, much to Mr. Mime astonishment. He lowered his gaze, grinned and the most surprising reaction of all was that the old man actually _blushed_ at the touches from Delia. And unsurprisingly, Delia didn't seem to notice at all. Figures.

Mr. Mime was stunned at the reaction of the professor. Not only was the old man very well-known to the humans in the Pokémon World, but also to the Pokémon who inhabited the land as well. Mr. Mime even knew who Professor Oak was before he even met the guy. He was reverenced as a hero in the eyes of Pokémon. So to see him in khakis and an old navy sweater was surprising enough. To see him actually grinning and blushing was something else entirely.

The three of them finished their meal and Mr. Mime cleaned up with the help of his Psychic abilities. The two continued chatting as if neither one wanted to end conversation with the other. As Mr. Mime finished drying the dishes, he heard the old man sigh.

"I really hate to end such a great conversation with you, Delia, but duty calls. The Pokémon need to be fed pretty soon."

"I understand, Sammie. But, we'll have plenty of time to chat later."

Mr. Mime turned in time to see the old man smile thoughtfully at the comment.

"Good", he replied, as he stood up from the table and left the kitchen.

Delia sighed and turned to Mr. Mime with a dreamy look on her face.

"He really does have a nice smile, doesn't he, Mimie?"

Mr. Mime turned back to the sink and used all of his will not to barf at the remark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of Chapter 4

Poor Mimie…can't catch a break, can he? And what's going on with the professor and Delia? Things are heating up, eh? Make sure you stay tuned! And review, review, review!

~MastermindMedley10


	5. Sweet Emotions Delia's POV

Hey, gang! Sorry about the delay on this chapter (finals have currently consumed my life...), but here it is! This one is longer than the others in this fic and also has more of a serious mood to it. But, I like it. I thought it was sweet. :3 Enjoy!~

Ch. 5: Sweet Emotions 

Delia Ketchum had never cleaned with such fervor before. Logic said that keeping busy led to the passing of time. The passing of time led to the completion of the chores. The completion of the chores led to more talks with Samuel.

_Samuel. _

His name alone sent Butterfrees flying in her stomach and her face never failed to break into a smile.

She and Mr. Mime had cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed the bathrooms and did all the laundry before three that evening. When she learned that it was only three after doing so much, her heart dropped some with disappointment. Why did time have to move so slowly?

Mr. Mime, on the other hand, looked like he very much disagreed. Delia was surprised to see her ever energetic Pokémon exhausted from cleaning, but she supposed that it was more work than usual. She allowed Mr. Mime to take a nap while she prepared tea and a turkey sandwich as a snack for Sam. He'd been hard at work all day. A break wouldn't hurt either of them.

Besides, she missed him already.

At around four that afternoon, Delia had set the snack on a serving tray (and even added a chocolate chip cookie along with the sandwich) and walked slowly to his office, where she knew he was doing some paperwork recording the Pokémon's conditions for that day. She had to force herself to walk at such a slow pace. She really wanted to run to his office; to see him and his smile, to listen to his laugh. Her heart was beating wildly. She was also very nervous. She knew that he had multiple offices in the lab, but the one that he was in was very private. Even Tracey needed permission before going in. She never asked, but she had a feeling that this was where all the big research was studied and kept, like the information on Mew and how to build and update the Poke'Dex. Information on the daily upkeep of the lab would definitely be a private issue. As tedious as it sounded, even day-to-day information on the Pokémon being cared for and studied in such an important lab would be dangerous in the wrong hands. And she knew that Oak had kept such files for years, even before she was born. When she thought about the serious work that he did, it never ceased to surprise her. Even when she was a young girl just visiting the lab, she always giggled that everyone made such a big fuss over someone as fun and eccentric as Oak. He never seemed to act like he was all that important.

She remembered when the both of them were in a helicopter flying to go find Ash when the peace between the Legendary Bird Trio and Lugia had been disrupted, causing chaos throughout the Pokémon world. On that flight, Oak was being interviewed by a reporter to offer the people of the Pokémon realm some sort of explanation. He had quickly and calmly dealt with the situation and had laid out the problem in out in simple terms. Delia was too worried about Ash to appreciate the importance of his interview, but shortly after the peace returned, she realized how intelligent the professor was and also how humble and understanding he was, as well. She thought of the other region professors and how they would've handled and explained the situation. Elm would've rambled on, if he even managed not to faint in such a serious situation. Birch would probably not have given the scenario the seriousness it deserved, which would have greatly angered Delia at that time, as she was very worried about Ash. Rowan's serious and hard manner would've only made matters worse. And Juniper, being so young, probably would not have had the knowledge or the people skills to handle such an international dilemma. No, Sam was the best candidate by far to handle such a dire situation. And that situation was just one time among many when his deep intellect and caring nature shone past being the quirky professor on TV or the radio that read poetry and answered young Trainers questions.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and was surprised to see that she had been standing idly in front of his office door. Her heart was pounding. She was hesitant; would he really want to be bothered with her? Surely if he was hungry he would've just gotten something himself. And his research was much more important than a sandwich and some tea. What if he thought that she was just some silly woman? She couldn't bear the thought of embarrassing herself in front of him.

She started to turn around and forget the whole idea. As she did, she heard his chair squeak from inside his office and the sound of shuffling papers. The muffled sound of fingers clicking away on the computer keyboard came afterwards.

The noises were too much for Delia. He was in there and she desperately wanted to see him, even for a minute or two. Slowly, she turned back towards the office door and gave two timid knocks, the tray of food being balanced on one arm. The clicking stopped momentarily, as if the one typing was unsure of the noise. Delia knocked again, three times this time and with more confidence. Part of her wished she could just turn around and run, but he had heard her this time. There was no going back.

"Come in," came the voice of the professor from inside his office. With a deep breath, Delia slowly opened the door.

Delia took in the office with wide eyes and had managed not to gasp. It was a homey, medium sized room, but it was filled with books! Ceiling to floor bookcases lined the sides of the room, as well one behind the grand wooden desk that Oak sat at that was facing towards the door. There were no windows, which gave the room a closed in, dark feeling, but the lamp that sat to the side of Oak's desk gave off a fair amount of light. Also sitting off to the side of Oak's desk was a state-of-the art desktop computer, the screen in which, Delia noticed, was facing away from her. Papers and charts were also scattered across the desk, some of which, Delia also noticed, were in other languages. This surprised Delia; she never knew the professor was multilingual. She also looked to the wall behind his desk and suppressed a gasp. Hung upon his wall was an assortment of degrees; at a quick glance, there looked to be around twenty. Hung on the other spaces on the walls of the office were paintings of various Pokémon, even some artifacts and antiques hung in handsome glass cases. She also noticed some personal photos on his desk.

She looked to see the professor looking at her from eyes worn from staring at a computer screen. There was also a hint of curiosity on his face. He wanted to know why she was there.

"I'm surprised to see you, Delia," said Sam, as he leaned back into his burgundy colored leather chair, "Though, it's with relief. It gets boring and lonely typing reports. Please, have a seat." With that, he motioned to one of the two chairs that sat in front of his desk that looked to be mini replicas of the one he was sitting in.

Relieved that she had not embarrassed herself, yet feeling like she had to quickly explain herself, Delia started, "I figured you'd be a bit hungry from working with the Pokémon and with those reports, so I brought you a snack to hold you over until dinner."

With that, she set the tray of food on a clear space on his desk. Oak looked at it wide-eyed shock and turned to face Delia as she settled herself, rather timidly, into one of the chairs. Oak's eyes seemed to soften and he gave a small chuckle.

"You really shouldn't have, Delia, but I thank you. I really can't remember the last time someone came to my office to bring me a snack. Well, outside of Gloria and Daisy, of course."

He looked fondly at the photos sitting on his desk and turned and smiled at Delia. She smiled shyly back and felt her heart melt. Oh, what that smile did to her…

There was silence between the two of them for a moment; one was unsure what to say to the other. Finally, Delia spoke up.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Oak shook his head 'no'. "Just reports, but I need a break. Is everything going well for you today? Are you and Mr. Mime comfortable?"

"Oh, yes! Everything is fine with us."

"Good."

Delia started to study the books, paintings, artifacts and antiques on the walls. Where had Sam gotten these things? They looked very rare and valuable.

"Anything that catches your eye?"

The sound of Sam's voice brought Delia back for her mental wonderings. She blushed as she noticed him smiling thoughtfully at her.

"W-well, I was just admiring," she stammered, as his smile caught him off guard, "You have many interesting pieces of art and literature in here."

Oak nodded. "A hobby of mine and Gloria's all through our marriage was art, literature and antique collecting. It started off small; a painting here or there, a good book find for a good price, going to antiques shops along with my conferences. As we got older and my work was becoming…well, more noticeable," he said sheepishly, "We started doing more collecting and added artifacts to the collection, as I was having to go excavating during the Mew project. I never kept anything that could be used for potential research or of great importance to the Pokémon world, but I did find a few interesting pottery pieces and tools from the people group of some of the places I was excavating."

As if to prove his point, he pointed to the left of Delia. She turned to see a glass case hanging from the wall showcasing a small clay vase that was unbroken, a handle of a war jar, and three, small, pointed, spear-like objects. What was next to it also caught her attention. Next to the case was the framed map of Kanto, though it looked very old, and seemed to date itself, as it did not include some of the islands, caves or towns that were known in the region to that day. It was clearly hand painted and included mythical drawings of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, along with a frightening looking Gyrados in the oceans of Kanto.

"That was a gift from Earl Pokémon in Jhoto, otherwise known as 'Mr. Pokémon'. He knew that Gloria and I were antique collectors and sent it to us as a gift of congratulations when I got some award years ago," explained Sam, as Delia turned back to look at him. He smiled sheepishly. "I saw that you were looking."

Delia nodded, still in awe of the items in his office. She never knew he and his wife were so cultured. Her eyes lingered over to the countless books.

"What sort of books did you and Gloria collect?" she asked.

Oak sat back and rested his clasped hands on his chest. "Just about anything of interest, really. We always made sure that whatever we were getting was legitimate; books with old script writing, author's signature, and hand bound volumes, hand painted designs, that sort of thing. Fairytale books were a favorite of Gloria's because of all the delicate and beautiful pictures. Those were pretty, but I always preferred the leather bound research books that were originally used by students centuries ago. One can always find some sort of fascinating history reading through them."

Next to the bookcase was a painting of a sunny green field with a lake. Butterfree were flying across the painting and across the lake was the legendary Pokémon, Suicune. There was something so soft and serine about the painting, yet with Suicune in it, there was an air of fierceness and mystery to the painting.

"We found that painting years ago," said Oak, "Suicune had always fascinated me and Gloria liked that whole 'sunny field' aspect of it." He chuckled. "We were always so different from one another."

Delia turned to look back at the professor. She hoped that she wasn't bugging him. She could sit in this office all day and look through these old books and study the paintings. Or just sit and chat with him.

Her attention was now directed to the photos on his desk. He really did have a handsome family. One of the photos was a relatively recent one of him, his son and his wife, Gary and Daisy outside at Sam's home in Sinnoh. Another was of Gary, Daisy, Oak and Gloria sitting on a couch at the Oak Lab. Gary looked to be around two and was sitting wide eyed on his grandmother's lap wearing a pair of light blue footsie pajamas with a Poke'Ball stitched to the chest and clutching a stuffed Snorlax. Gloria was beaming, her bright blue eyes lined with wrinkles from her smiling, which shone from behind her silver framed glasses. Her silver hair was in a low bun, her bangs sweeping across her forehead. She had her arms lovingly around Gary and wore a red collared sweater and an ankle length denim skirt. Sam sat next to her and had his arm around her, beaming as well. He wore a long sleeved burgundy button up shirt and a pair of khakis. In his lap was Daisy, who looked to be four or five at the time. She had her arm wrapped around his neck while the other arm held on to a stuffed Jigglypuff that looked like it had seen better days. She smiled at the camera shyly, her brown eyes gleaming with laughter. She wore a long sleeved, pink gown with a picture of a Clefairy on it, her dark hair pulled away from her face with a matching headband. Sam had his other arm cradling her.

Delia smiled fondly at the photo. They all looked so happy. She said so to Sam, who nodded in agreement and picked it up and began to examine the photo. He smiled softly and his eyes held a faraway look to them, as if he were remembering other things.

Oak set the photo back in its place. "That photo was always a favorite of mine. The grandkids were over to spend the night and one of the lab assistants took the picture before leaving for home for the day."

Delia looked back to the small cluster of photos on his desk and saw one that really stood out to her.

She turned back to Sam. "I didn't know Gary had a girlfriend."

Sam looked at Delia, puzzled. "Girlfriend? Gary doesn't have a girlfriend…at least, I don't think he does."

It was Delia's turn to look surprised now. "Then who is the couple in the photo?" She pointed it out to Sam, who turned towards the direction she was pointing at. Much to her surprise, he started laughing. Delia felt herself blush; what was so funny?

"Delia, that's not Gary-that's Gloria and I during our engagement."

Delia felt her eyes widen in shock. "You? And Gloria?"

Sam nodded and continued to laugh as he handed the photo to Delia to look at.

Delia looked down at the photo in her hands and felt herself grow more in shock. She always thought that Gary and Sam resembled one another, but she never realized how much. There were subtle differences; in the photo, Sam was clearly older than fifteen, which was the age of his grandson, and taller, too. Sam's hair was longer and a lighter shade of brown, but it in the same style that Gary wore his hair. Sam's face was also softer than Gary's, his eyes holding a different light than that of his grandson's. And Gloria. Delia knew only one word to describe her in this photo: stunning. Delia had known Gloria her entire life and was so sad to hear when she passed away so suddenly. She was always a pretty woman, even as she got older. Her personality was what really made her stand out, though. She was always so happy. In this photo, Sam had his arm wrapped protectively around her and she was leaning up against him, her hand on his chest. Both were looking straight at the camera, Gloria's eyes a startling shade of blue. It was a close up photo of the two of them, but one could tell that they were standing in a field, the sun shining behind them. Gloria had long, light brown hair, even lighter than Sam's, and her bangs fell neatly across her brow. The photo was dated by the quality of the picture; it looked worn and the color had faded some. The couple's clothes also held a timed look. Sam was wearing a light brown buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tucked into a pair of tan work slacks and a brown belt. In his other hand held a leather brown, rancher style hat. Gloria was donning a light blue sun dress that went to about her knees. It was simple, but still showed off her fit figure.

Delia stared at the photo with one main thought in mind: _He loves her so much. _

In a way, she was truly happy for Sam. He had found true love and was with her most of his life. Even when Gloria passed, it was obvious that Sam still loved her and thought about her often. She herself had been with Andy for only a few years, but she treasured every moment. She missed him a lot, too. Many people didn't know this, but Delia still went to visit Andy's grave, which was at the cemetery outside of Pallet Town. It was also the same place Gloria is buried. She and Sam occasionally saw each other visiting their loved ones, but never said much to one another; it just wasn't the place to talk.

"It's a beautiful picture, Sam," whispered Delia, as she handed it back to Sam, "How old were you two in the photo?"

"I was about to turn twenty and Gloria had just turned eighteen. We got married a few weeks after that photo was taken."

Looking at the photo brought up many emotions for Delia. She and Andy were that age when they were engaged. They had looked at one another the way Sam and Gloria did. They were in love. She still loved him.

What about Sam? Did he feel the way that she did? What did these emotions say about the two of them? Could they be together? Was it even an option?

Delia looked over at Sam to see him staring gravely at her.

He sighed. "You know, Delia, I never really told you have deeply sorry I am for your loss. Andy was a good man. Yes, I lost Gloria as well, but we had decades together. I was always saddened by your loss because you never did have those decades. Ash never had his father. But, I have always admired you. You filled in the gap better than anyone I can think of. You are a strong woman, Delia. And very beautiful, if I might add."

The compliment caused Delia to blush. She had not been called 'beautiful' in such a long time. Suddenly, her eyes darted to the antique clock behind his desk.

"It's ten past five!" exclaimed Delia, as she hopped up and gathered the now empty tray. "I should've started dinner by now!"

"Oh." stated the stunned professor, as he sat back in his chair. "Well, may I ask what we are having?"

Delia turned backed and smiled at the professor as her hand gripped the door handle.

"I found the ingredients to make chicken 'n dumplings. Old fashion, I know, but I thought it was simple enough."

Oak looked like Christmas had come early. "_Chicken 'n dumplings? _Oh, I haven't had that in _years_, Delia! It was a favorite of mine as a child."

"Great! It should be ready between six and six thirty."

With that, Delia turned and left Sam's office. As she closed the door, she almost thought she heard the words, "_I love you, Delia_", follow softly behind her.

Surely not. It was just her imagination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of chapter 5

Heartfelt, wasn't it? Well, at least I hope so…I needed to put in at least _one _serious chapter in this fic-it is a love story, after all.

Professor Oak's turn is next!

R&R, please!

~MastermindMedley10


	6. Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Mr Mime's POV

Ok, I lied-I'm made Chapter 6 in Mr. Mime's POV instead of Oak's. I just couldn't make this part work in Oak's POV, it was so much better in Mr. Mime's. I hope I didn't disappoint you guys too much. This chapter is short, but still humorous (I hope…). It does mildly mention the use of alcohol, but for humorous reasons. Enjoy!~

C. 6: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…I Pray the Lord, My Sanity to Keep…

Mr. Mime was lying in bed with a warm, damp washcloth resting on his forehead after what he considered was one of the most mentally scarring evenings of his life.

He had helped Delia prepare the dinner of chicken 'n dumplings (a rather old fashioned, unsophisticated dish, Mr. Mime thought, but who cared for his opinion anyway?), rice, beans, dinner rolls, tea and enough holiday sweets to give a Snorlax a cavity. And Oak was not only a poor housekeeper, but a slob as well-he had seconds of everything! Something about his mother used to cook chicken 'n dumplings and he hasn't had them for so long, they were his favorite as a child, yada, yada, yada…it really didn't surprise Mr. Mime that dinner that evening was a childhood favorite of Oak's, as primitive as he was. He could imagine a boy version of Oak swinging from vines, living in a cave and wearing fig leaves. Primitive, just primitive! Mr. Mime thought for sure that his darling Delia would see through the old Pokémon fossil's primeval ways; obviously she had more class than him-her favorite dish was filet migon! But, no. She just gave that dainty little laugh of hers' and offered him more.

What's more, the flirting during the meal was much worse this time. More of Delia touching and laughing and flirting. More of Oak blushing and complimenting. And much more eye rolling coming from Mr. Mime, but he highly doubted the two of them noticed. He even cleaned the table without the two of them even looking at him! Disrespectful! And to make matters worse, the old man built a fire in the living room fireplace and the two of them sat on the couch and drank coffee for _hours. _The most interesting thing that was said came from Oak at around ten when he mentioned something about retiring. Mr. Mime's heart leaped for joy-he was retiring! Hurrah! That meant that he was going to leave the lab to someone else, then go and move off somewhere and do what other old, retired men do, whatever that was…maybe play golf or something…much to his disappointment, Oak meant that he was retiring for the night and was going to bed. And with his gag reflex on overload, Mr. Mime nearly lost his dinner when the two of them awkwardly hugged one another before departing to their rooms.

Why did he have to wish that there would be a blizzard the day before? Now he was stuck here with two love Pidgey's and an oil spill that refused to leave him. Almost forgot about Muk, didn't we? Yes, the slimball was a nuisance; it followed Mr. Mime everywhere, attempted to actually put its lips on Mr. Mime (it you could call the opening of its wide jowl a set of lips), and had even tried pushing him into an empty bed! Disgrace! He quickly locked the thing in another Barrier attack and locked himself in an unoccupied room.

Now here he was. Alone. On an old assistant's bed in a lab that smelled of dust, mold and various other smells better left unsaid, which was run by a crazy, old man who was pulling the moves on his sweet innocent Trainer, who was completely and utterly oblivious.

_I need a drink…_

Mr. Mime sighed and closed his eyes. The sun would come out tomorrow and the snow would melt. And when the snow melts, he and his Trainer could go back home. And that was something to be thankful for.

And it's always good to be thankful for something on Thanksgiving.

With that, Mr. Mime smiled and dozed off, but not before reciting a new version of an old prayer he had once heard….

_Now I lay me down to sleep…I pray the Lord, my sanity to keep…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of Chapter 6

Poor, poor Mimey….stuck again and having to endure the torture…well, it was short, but what did you guys think? R&R, please!

Thanks! Until you read again!

~MastermindMedley10


	7. Battle at the Oak Lab! Oak's POV

This is a pretty long chapter and while it's not as funny as some of the previous chapters in this fic, I hope you all will enjoy it nonetheless. I added some action this time, make sure you review and tell me what you think. WARNING: If you don't like complete randomness in fics, I would suggest skipping this chapter. You have been warned. Other than that, enjoy!~

Chapter 7: Battle at the Oak Lab! 

Professor Oak lay back in his bed and smiled.

He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. He always attempted to keep up a happy disposition in general, see life as a glass half full, ya' know? But that night he felt beyond happy. Just utterly elated.

And it was all due to one person.

_Delia. _

The name alone sent chills up his spine and made his heart flutter. He felt himself truly falling for her. He desired to make her happy, to please her, to make her comfortable.

And something in his heart told him that Delia felt the same.

He had a feeling that she may return his feelings for her, but he was too timid to think too much on it. He knew he'd be crushed if it wasn't the case. But he really thought it was.

He sighed.

Love was so confusing.

Now what was he going to do? Thanksgiving was tomorrow and the snow would surely be melted enough for her and Mr. Mime to go back to her home, which would leave him alone at his lab for yet another holiday.

No! He had to pursue the golden opportunity he had with Delia before it was too late and it got awkward again. When else would Delia Ketchum be caught in a snow storm at his lab for two days? He hardly ever got five minutes alone with her to pursue any relationship. He had to act quickly! But how?

"_I'll just ask her out on a real date tomorrow,"_ thought the old man, as he stared up at the dark ceiling in his room. _"Something fancy, but subtle, like dinner out one evening. I could take her to that nice restaurant in Viridian; they have a nice garden out back. Oh, Delia would love that!"_

The thought that perhaps she'd say 'no' slowly reentered Oak's mind, but he pushed it away.

He had to man up.

Oak had drifted to sleep with thoughts of a hopeful date with Delia playing in his head.

It wasn't too long after he fell asleep that he heard a loud crash sound somewhere from his lab.

He snapped open his eyes and jerked up out of bed. _What was that? _

The sound of a feminine shriek soon pierced through the night.

_Delia! _

Oak ran out of his room wearing nothing but his navy pajamas and his hair in disarray. His appearance mattered little to him now; his only concern was Delia.

He ran in the direction of the scream, which led him to the edge of his laboratory. When he got to the scene, he gasped.

The ceiling to floor mirror was scattered, which was undoubtedly the cause of the crash, and his lab was in shambles. Papers were flying everywhere, books were thrown from their shelves and were scattered across the floor, tables were flipped and delicate lab equipment lay in pieces on the floor.

But there was no sign of Delia.

"Delia!" yelled Oak over the sound of the violent winter wind blowing through the shattered lab window. He began to shiver from the cold air rushing past. The curtains, now in tatters, were whipping furiously. The sight of them caused Oak's heart to skip a beat; they were on the second floor. Surely Delia didn't fall from the window…

"Looking for her?"

Oak turned to look in the direction of the sudden voice. His eyes had adjusted well enough in the dim light to see the silhouettes of two figures over on the other side of his lab. Further investigation revealed that the two figures were young adults, a male and female, both in black Team Rocket Grunt uniforms.

"Cassidy and Bob!" shouted the professor in recognition.

"That's 'Butch'!" cried the male in a croak-like voice.

Cassidy gave an evil cackle as Butch flicked on the laboratory lights. The sudden brightness stunned Oak momentarily as he unintentionally averted his eyes. When he looked back up, he could see the blond haired woman and green haired man standing among his ruined lab, smirking. Next to them standing on a table was the rat type Pokémon, Raticate, who was threateningly eyeing Delia, who was curled up on the floor against some filing cabinets wearing a large T-shirt and an old housecoat of his.

At the sight of her, Oak shouted, "Delia!" and began to rush to her.

He went maybe five feet before the purple, diamond eyed Ghost-type Pokémon, Sableye, appeared before him with a fist cocked back with black, plasma-like matter around it. Before the professor could process what was happening, Sableye punched him right in the gut, which sent him flying backwards, crashing against the wall.

Oak wrapped his arms around his sore abdominal and struggled to catch his breath. _Shadow Punch. _

His ears started ringing from the impact and stars of light blurred his vision. But, one voice could be heard above the damage of the impact.

"_Samuel!"_

Oak gave a groaned as he looked to where Delia was trying to escape from where she sat, but to no avail: Raticate had jumped down from the table and was blocking her path, frightening her with his large fangs. Sableye had joined him and was growling menacingly at Delia.

Cassidy clicked her tongue and wagged her finger at the professor. "First name basis, are we? Oh, you naughty professor."

"Yeah," added Butch, grinning like an idiot, "We come breaking in because we think that you're off for the holidays, and we find this lady crawling around."

"I'm sorry, Samuel," cried Delia, her voice cracking, "I thought I heard something and went to investigate, then these two broke in and got a hold of me…"

Oak felt his blood boil. "Let her go!" he yelled as he used the wall to stand himself up. He flinched as a sharp pain coursed through his chest. He wrapped one arm around his chest and stumbled forward, ignoring the pain. He vision turned red. _How dare they. _

"What do you want?" he yelled at the duo. His own voice astonished him. He couldn't remember the last time he sounded so angry.

He personality change must've been noticed, because Butch stopped grinning and Cassidy turned at least two shades paler.

_Good. _He wanted them scared. _How dare they. How dare they lay a finger on Delia. _

_His____Delia. _

"Already found it, old man," answered Cassidy hastily. It was clear that Oak's new tone had shaken her up, but she was attempting to recover.

Delia looked up at the two from where they stood. "Found what? What did you want here?"

"This," answered Butch. In a flourish, his whipped out a battered vanilla folder from behind his back and held it up in the air for everyone to see.

Oak gasped at the realization of what he was holding. "Y-you can't take that!" he sputtered, pointing desperately with his free hand towards the folder, "It's of the upmost importance! It's one of the first files from the Mew Project!"

"And it also holds some valuable information how to get the project started up again, doesn't it, Oakey?" sneered Cassidy, who obviously liked having the upper hand this time.

Oak felt his stomach tense up. "You don't understand! The original scientists who helped to discover Mew and later a fossil of Mew formed the Mew Project. It was going to be brilliant; to be able to recreate the rarest Pokémon in the world! Mew was a Pokémon who held many secrets to the ancient world of Pokémon. Before the project really got underway, it expanded. The thought came about that if Mew could be recreated, why not other Pokémon? More ancient and extinct Pokémon could roam this planet once more, and this could also be a way to save species of Pokémon on the verge of extinction. We thought it was brilliant. Then the idea of recreating these Pokémon as more powerful than before came up. Why not add powerful Water and Grass type moves to a Ground-type on the verge of extinction? Attacks like that would make it better able to survive. This was accepted generally. Then the idea of _cloning_ was brought up. If a Pokémon could be recreated, where else could this cloning do? What would this mean for the human race? The world of genetics would never be the same again! Then the idea of creating new, super powerful Pokémon was brought up, then of the idea of cloning the dead! What began with the idea to revive Mew turned into chaos! Scientists were obsessing over the thought of inventing some unnatural, super Pokémon and were already counting the money that could be made to bring loved ones back to life. Many of us quit the project; it had gone too far. We realized that we as a human race were not advanced enough neither intellectually nor emotionally for the plans that were being thought of and possibly never would be. That and we also realized that the plans being thought of required too much detail and research, decades of it. One wrong move could prove deadly in projects like these. But others went off and tried to recreate these things on their own. But they were impatient. And they had gone mad over the project. They were ruining their lives and many eventually died from the catastrophic explosions from their ill-formulated experiments. Working on the Project was soon banned by the League once they saw how destructive it was, but the contraband experiments continued and more lives were lost. It was finally decided that the original members of the Project would come together to either destroy or hide any documents relating to the Mew Project. Being one of the founding members of the Project, I destroyed the most work and kept that document as record of our early discoveries."

Cassidy gave an over-emphasized yawn while Butch crossed his arms in boredom.

"Tell us something we didn't know, old man," said Butch.

"Yeah, what was the point of your lecture, Oakey?" Cassidy sighed nonchalantly as she examined her fingernails.

Oak felt his anger rise once more. "You fools! With that document, someone could easily start the Mew Project again with the right connections and information."

"That's the point," laughed Butch, as he tucked the folder into his back pocket once more.

"But people lost their _lives _because of that Project!"

"Not out problem, just following the Boss's orders," replied Butch.

Cassidy place her hands firmly on her hips. "OK, enough chit chat. I'm sick of listening to you go on like a confused Chatact, old man. Sabeleye, Shadow Punch!"

"Sableye!" shouted the Pokémon, as it vanished into thin air. Oak's heart began to pound; where would the beast attack him from? Could he manage another attack like last time? His own Pokémon were in their Poke' Balls in one of the desks that had been knocked over during the thieves' search.

As Oak tried to race over to the fallen desk to recover his Pokémon team, Sableye appeared before him once again with his fist cocked back to deliver another blow. Oak knew he couldn't hide from the incoming attack. He stood firm and braced himself with his head ducked, his arms covering his head. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, praying he could remain conscious after this oncoming attack. He could hear Delia shouting his name in the background.

He _had _to remain conscious. For her.

He flinched as he heard Sableye getting closer, just waiting for the pain to hit him.

But, it never did.

_Huh?_

Oak carefully opened one eye and looked from behind his arms. Sableye was just _standing_ there. He slowly lowered his arms and opened both his eyes to study the situation.

What he saw caused him to grin in delight.

Sableye was stopped by a large, clear glass-like object that Oak recognized to be a Barrier Attack.

_Mr. Mime! _

"MR. MIME!"

The cry from Delia's loyal Pokémon sounded from behind him. He turned to see Mr. Mime close behind him with his arms raised, his glove-like hands glowing yellow from the effects of the attack, a look of sheer determination on his face.

Delia gasped in joy from where she was still trapped from across the room. "Mimie!"

At the same time, the evil Team Rocket duo both let out a cry of "WHAT?", as Sableye attempted to break the Barrier Attack, to no avail.

Oak stepped back to stand next to Mr. Mime. "Great job, Mr. Mime! Thank you so much! Let's get rid of this bunch together." He pointed to where the overturned desk that held his Pokémon team lay. "My own Pokémon are in the top drawer in that desk. Think you can levitate them over here?"

Mr. Mime nodded his head in affirmation. "Mime!"

With that, the Pokémon's hands went from glowing yellow to glowing blue as the Barrier Attack faded and the outline of Sableye began to glow blue as well.

"'eye?" growled the Pokémon in confusion, as it was lifted slowly then tossed backwards, toppling Cassidy and Butch, along with Raticate, who happened to be standing in the way of Sabeleye.

As Delia scurried over to Oak and Mr. Mime, Mr. Mime focused his attention on the desk. It glowed the same color blue as his hands and flipped effortlessly back on its legs. The top drawer opened and six red and white spheres flew out and into Oak's outstretched hands. As soon as he caught them, the blue light around Mr. Mime's hands and the desk faded and Oak turned his attention back to the duo and their Pokémon while Delia gave Mr. Mime a backbreaking squeeze, which he really didn't seem to mind.

Wordlessly, Oak placed five of the Poke' Balls into the breast pocket of his pajamas and clicked to enlarge the remaining Poke' Ball in his hand. He glared at Cassidy and Butch as they scrambled to get up with their disheveled Pokémon. Cassidy, in her frustration, was forced to return her Sableye, who had fainted from the impact of the attack. _These two were going down. _

"No more games, Team Rocket! Let's go, Sandslash!"

With that, he threw the Poke' Ball, which opened in mid-air and released a gulf of white light. As the Poke' Ball returned back to the professor, the light faded to reveal a large, hedgehog type Pokémon with long claws gleaming dangerously in the light and covered in sharp spikes from the top of his head to his tail.

Sandslash lifted his arms in preparation for battle. "Slash!"

Delia looked to her loyal Pokémon. "Ready to battle, Mimie?"

"Mr. Mime!" With that, Mr. Mime jumped next to Sandslash, also raising his attacks, ready to attack.

Cassidy snarled. "We aren't giving up that easy! Raticate, get out there!"

"You too, Primeape!" commanded Butch, as he threw a Poke' Ball which opened to reveal the tan, fighting type Pokémon.

Both Pokémon jumped in front of their Trainers ready to fight.

"Raticate, use Tackle on Mr. Mime!"

"Use Dynamic Punch on Sandslash, Primeape!"

Raticate charged towards Mr. Mime with a wild battle cry, while Primeape ran towards Sandslash with his fist cocked along with his own battle cry.

Oak and Delia exchanged knowing looks before commanding their Pokémon.

Delia pointed towards her opponent. "Alright, Mimie, use Psychic on Primeape!"

"Sandslash, use Roll Out on Raticate!" commanded Oak.

Sandslash jumped up and curled itself into a spikey ball and barreled himself into Raticate, in the process moving himself out of the way of Primeape and keeping Mr. Mime safe and focused to perform Psychic.

Mr. Mime briefly shut his eyes in concentration and opened them again. His eyes began to glow blue and he raised his hands, which were also glowing blue. Primeape also took on the blue hue and was stopped in his tracks with a look of confusion on his face.

"Mrrrrr…..MIME!"

With that, Primeape was lifted from where he stood and with a cry of pain, was thrown effortlessly into the back wall of the lab with a crash. The punching Pokémon was out for a count as he slid and fainted to the floor.

Butch grabbed his hair in aggravation. "HOW?"

"Fighting-type Pokémon are weak against Psychic-type attacks, as a general rule," said Oak, "and this Mr. Mime is much stronger than you think. He has a great Trainer." With that last comment, Oak smiled at Delia, who blushed in return.

"Ugh," snarled Cassidy, who feigned gagging at Oak's remark, "All this old people love is going to make me sick. Raticate, jump up and use Hyper Fang on Mr. Mime!"

"Raticate!" cried the Pokemon, as he jumped gracefully upward from where he had landed from Sandslash's previous attack, and came smashing his great teeth down on Mr. Mime, who was just then regaining focus from his Psychic Attack.

"Mime!" cried Mr. Mime in pain, as he fell forward in a faint.

"Mimie!" shouted Delia, as she ran to her beloved Pokémon. She took out a Poke' Ball from the housecoat pocket as she cradled the injured Pokémon. "Return, Mimie. You did great!"

With that, Mr. Mime returned back into the Poke' Ball in a flash of red light.

Delia walked over next to Oak, who wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"No worries, Delia," consoled the professor, "I'll finish this."

He lowered his arm and looked back at the two intruders and their remaining Pokémon. "This has gone on long enough. Sandslash, use Slash on Raticate!"

"Quick Attack!" commanded Cassidy.

Raticate ran in zig-zag towards Sandslash, who had one arm raised, his claws ready to attack. Raticate collided into Sandslash's soft underbelly, which sent the Pokémon back a few feet, but he quickly recovered and landed a sharp blow from his claws to Raticate's side.

"Quick, Raticate, use Hyper Fang again while Sandslash is at close range and follow it up with Headbutt!" ordered Cassidy.

"Raticate!" cried the Pokémon, as he ducked up and landed another series of blows to Sandslash's sensitive underside.

"SLASH!" shrieked Sandslash in pain as he fainted.

Oak groaned. "Return, Sandslash! You did very well."

As Sandslash returned back to his Poke' Ball in a beam of red light, Delia looked to Oak in concern as he began to bring out another Poke' Ball from his pajama pocket.

"What will you do?" whispered Delia, her eyes wide from fear.

"Take them down, of course," smirked Oak, "Sandslash isn't the only Pokémon in my arsenal. Though, I have to admit, that Raticate is one of the strongest I've ever seen. I underestimated them with their Ghost-type, Sableye, was easily taken down by a Psychic Pokémon and when they choose a Fighting-type to do battle with a Psychic Pokémon."

"Worried, old man?" sneered Cassidy, as she crossed her arms in a sign of boredom.

"Not at all," answered the professor smartly as he began to toss out his next Pokémon. "I choose you, -"

"MUKKKKK!"

Professor Oak was interrupted by the sound of Muk, who came charging towards Raticate. Raticate looked as though a he was standing in front of an oncoming train, and indeed, there really was not a lot of difference, unless you count the putrid small coming from the oily Pokémon.

Before Raticate could move out of the great beast's way, Muk had sent it flying back towards its Trainers with a Pound Attack. Raticate crashed into Cassidy and Butch, and with this crash, the important Mew document flew out of Butch's clutches and over towards the professor and Delia, where it landed only a few feet from the two of them. Delia ran over and quickly grabbed it before the thieves could get ahold of it again, while Oak turned his attention to the scene.

"Well, this wasn't exactly the way I planned on ending this battle," said Oak in puzzlement, as a slow grin formed on his face. "But, I also wasn't exactly planning on having to do battle late at night with a couple of Team Rocket agents. Well, Muk, how would you like to blast these two off and go to bed?"

"MUK!" bellowed Muk happily, as it slimed its way in front of the professor in preparation of battle.

"U-u-oh…."stammered Cassidy, her face turning a bit green from Muk's smell.

"Uh, Cassidy? What now?" asked Butch nervously.

"Now Muk, use Sludge Bomb!" shouted Oak.

Muk gave a rumbling cry as it opened its large maw and delivered a rapid series of sludge bombs towards Team Rocket.

The impact of the attack gave off a small explosion, which sent the duo and their Raticate crashing upward into the ceiling and sailing through the sky.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" shouted the duo, as their Pokemon cried "Raticate!" simultaneously. Soon, they had disappeared from the sky and all was once again silent at the lab.

Oak and Delia turned to each other in glee.

"You did it!" cried Delia excitedly.

Oak shook his head, a wide smile on his face. "No, Delia, _we _did it. You were great!" He turned back to Muk. "And you, Muk! That was a great attack! And you came right in time, too!"

"Our hero!" sang Delia sweetly, which caused Muk to turn a strange crimson shade where its cheeks would've been.

"Muk!" cried Muk happily, as it belly flopped on the professor to the ground.

"Ugh!" gasped Oak, as he took in a breath of Muk's foul odor. "Muk, as grateful as I am, I think it's time that we all go to bed."

With that, Muk returned itself back into its ball, which had rolled underneath a scattered file in all the confusion. Oak stood himself up and looked over at Delia.

With Muk gone, it was just Oak and Delia standing there alone.

"You really were great," said Delia shyly, as she slowly came towards the professor.

Oak allowed instinct to take over as he slowly and gently wrapped his arms around her and led her over to the couch, which had remained upright from the battle. When he got her seated on the couch, he stood and closed the windows with a second set of wooden blinds to keep out the cold air. He brought out a blanket from under one of the cabinets and flicked off the lights, save for a small lamp in the back corner. He settled down next to her and placed the cover over the two of them. Timidly, he wrapped his arm around her and looked down into her eyes.

"Is this OK?" he asked softly, not wanting to interrupt the silence.

"Samuel, this is perfect," said Delia just as softly.

With that, Oak gently brought his free hand under her chin and Delia cupped his face in her hands. Together, they slowly guided their lips together and kissed. It was slow and gentle and not at all forced from either party. Were Oak in his right mind, he would've blamed his sudden boldness on a lack of sleep, but somehow, that really wasn't the case. And Delia easily counted that moment as one of the best in her life.

When they parted, they looked at one another, examining every detail of the other's face.

"Delia", started Samuel slowly, "do you truly realize how beautiful you are?"

"Hmmm…" she hummed in response, as she gently brought her hand back up to his face for another kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch, they were interrupted by a sudden cry.

"JIGGLY!"

Both paused and stared back at each other in confusion.

"Huh?" they chorused together.

They looked up to see the pink balloon Pokémon, Jigglypuff, standing on the edge of an overturned lab table. The two humans could see that this Jigglypuff didn't belong to the lab, but both were familiar with her; she held a microphone in her hands.

Both humans looked back at each other and then back at the Pokémon, who looked like she was ready to perform, much to their extreme displeasure.

Delia looked back up at Samuel. "But, how-"

"I don't know," answered the professor, his eyes glued to the Pokémon, who was grinning with joy.

"Jiggly!" exclaimed Jigglypuff, as she brought the microphone up to her mouth.

"NO!" cried Delia and Samuel, as they both tried to untangle themselves and stop the Pokémon, but they were too late. Jigglypuff began to sing a melodious lullaby, one that stopped the two lovers from where they were attempting to stand. Their eyes grew heavy as the song went on and soon both were fast asleep on the couch, Delia's head resting on Samuel's chest and his arm still wrapped around her.

When Jigglypuff saw that her audience was being uncooperative, she stopped mid-song, puffed herself up and unclicked the top of the microphone to reveal that it was also a black marker. After doodling on the faces of her rude audiences, Jigglypuff puffed herself up and floated towards the hole in the ceiling caused by Team Rocket and continued floating skyward into the night.

She would just have to find a new audience elsewhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of chapter 7

Thought you were gonna see some action there for a minute, didn't ya'? Not here you ain't! Why? I don't write that kind of stuff. If you want to read all that, get yourself a paperback novel from the checkout line the next time you are at the grocery store. But, I did have you going there for a minute, right? HA!

So, what did you think? I'm pretty sure some of you are hating my guts right now with the random turn of events, but hey, it's my story and I don't do 'average turn of events'. Sorry this chapter wasn't as funny as some of the others, but I hope the action I put in place was alright for you. And the bit of romance there, heheh.

Ok, it's now time for the best part: reviewing! Go, go, go!

Until you read again,

~MastermindMedley10


	8. Thankful Mr Mime's POV

OK, so this is it guys. The moment that we've all been waiting for: the last chapter. Yes, friends, this is it. I must say that I have truly enjoyed writing this fic and it will forever be a favorite of mine. I had originally planned to add another chapter after this with a different ending, but once I got near the end, I realized that it seemed much nicer like this. Enjoy!~

Ch. 8-Thankful Mr. Mime's POV

Hours later after the match between Cassidy and Butch, Mr. Mime released himself from his Poke' Ball. The battle had left him worn and weary, especially after receiving no immediate medical attention and being shut inside a Poke' Ball didn't help matters. He fell forward on the cold lab floor and wearily lifted himself up with the help of a nearby coffee table.

He surveyed the area and resisted the urge to faint again. The light from the early morning sun revealed that the lab was in even more of disarray than usual. Books had been jerked mercilessly from their shelves, papers scattered the floor away from the files that they were once in and tables had been flipped and the delicate instruments that were on them had been smashed from the impact, their remains glittering in the morning light.

Mr. Mime rubbed his eyes. He knew that the damage from the thieves was more extensive than what his brief glance had revealed, but he couldn't bear to look anymore. He felt a headache coming on.

He suddenly felt a surge of anger. He was a pet, not some fighting brute like Ash's Pokémon! He helped cook, clean, gardened…he was a pampered Pokémon and proud of it! He didn't mind battling to protect Delia, but she knew that he wasn't used to such brutality. She should've taken care of him as soon as possible after the match! But, no. Where was she? Probably with Oak doing….ugh, he didn't want to think about it…

He sighed and lowered his hands and began to survey the mess. His headache increased tremendously at the sight of it.

"_MUKKK!_"

Mr. Mime jumped in fright from the sudden sound that had erupted, but more so, at what beast had made that noise.

_Please, no…not now…_

"_Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing awake now! Muk happy!"_

Muk had slimed itself front of Mr. Mime, towering above him with a large grin on its…well, where its face would've been.

Mr. Mime groaned in annoyance and shuttered at the revolting smell that came from the creature.

"_Not now, Muk!" _replied Mr. Mime, speaking Pokémon, of course, _"I've got to get started on cleaning this lab."_

"_Muk no like clean!"_

Mr. Mime rolled his eyes at the obvious statement and continued. _"No worries, I had no intentions in asking for your help, nor do I desire it. At any case, it's still early, what are you doing up?"_

"_Muk hungry! And Muk wanted to tell Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing Happy Thanksgiving!"_

The realization of the date surprised Mr. Mime. The battle had made him forget.

"_It is Thanksgiving, isn't it? Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Muk."_

Muk beamed from the greeting. _"Thank you, Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing! What is you thankful for, Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing?"_

"_Peace, quiet and a feather duster…"_

Muk gave a low grumbling gurgle that caused Mr. Mime to jump in fright again. It took him a moment to realize that the great oil spill was laughing.

"_You silly, Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing! Why would you be thankful for a feather duster? They make me sneeze."_

"_Why don't you tell me what you are thankful for so I can get a better idea of what you are asking?" _asked Mr. Mime, as he thought of how Muk could sneeze without a visible nose.

Muk gave large smile and began. _"Ok, Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing! Muk is thankful for Ash-boy-Trainer-friend and for Misty-girl-redhead-hot temper and Brock-no eyes-good cook and for Delia-Ash's mom-nice-pretty lady and for Tracy-Oak's helper-feeds me breakfast-good drawer and especially for Oak-old man-playmate!" _

The great beast closed its mouth and squinted its eyes in concentration. It looked like hard work to Mr. Mime.

After a moment, Muk continued. _"And sometimes, Muk is thankful for Gary-Oak's offspring-spoiled brat, but that's only when he plays with me, because he's more of a challenge to catch than Oak-old man-playmate." _Muk grinned sheepishly. _"Muk already knows where Oak-old man-playmate hides. He's not very smart some days…and Gary-Oak's offspring-spoiled brat is faster than Oak-old man-play mate. But, he yells at Muk for a long time after Muk gets him in 'Tag'…" _

Mr. Mime nodded in agreement. He'd met Gary on only a few occasions and from what he could gather, Muk's name just about summed him up.

"_And Muk is thankful for Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing!" _

Mr. Mime looked up at the beast in shock. _"Really?"_

"_Of course! Without Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing to do some of the chores, Oak-old man-play mate would have less time to play with Muk! And Muk loves Oak-old man-play mate with Muk's whole heart. Even Oak-old man-play mate is thankful for Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing. Muk heard him say so to Tracey-Oak's helper-feeds me breakfast-good drawer and to Delia-Ash's mom-nice-pretty lady. And Delia-Ash's mom-nice-pretty lady always talks good about Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing."_

Mr. Mime mulled over what Muk had said in silence. He was touched. So, Oak really was grateful for him? And not just him, but Tracey as well? And Delia said good things about him? And Muk was thankful for him, too? Mr. Mime felt a pang of guilt. He never really gave two cents for the brute; it was smelly and ugly and a nuisance. But, at that moment, Mr. Mime could see that the creature truly did have a heart, albeit, underneath all the grim.

Mr. Mime smiled at Muk. _"Thank you for telling me, Muk. You know, I'm thankful for you, too."_

"_Really?" _asked Muk apprehensively.

Mr. Mime nodded.

"_Muk love you, Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing!"_

With that, the over joyous Pokémon body slammed Mr. Mime to the floor, squeezing him into a backbreaking hug from underneath the folds of its oily figure. Mr. Mime could hardly breathe.

"_Please, Muk!" _Mr. Mime pleaded, _"Get off me, I can't breathe!"_

Reluctantly, Muk removed itself from Mr. Mime, as he got up and brushed the dust from his front.

"_Do you know where Delia and Oak are, Muk?" _asked Mr. Mime, looking up at the beast.

Muk gave another gurgling laugh. _"You silly Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing! They be sleeping over there the whole time!"_

Mr. Mime turned in the direction where Muk had motioned with a large bit of slim from its form. What he saw made him fall over in a dead faint.

Muk hurried to Mr. Mime side.

"_Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing?" _Muk called to Mr. Mime in concern. _"Mimie-pink-man-clean-thing? Why is you sleeping? It's day time!"_

When there came no response from Mr. Mime, shrugged its massive slob-like shoulders and grinned to where Oak and Delia lay sleeping on the couch underneath a large blanket. Delia had her head resting on his chest and Oak had his arm around her. Strange black markings covered their faces.

Muk grinned as he sludged out of the room in search of food. _"Looks like Oak-old man-play mate and Delia-Ash's mom-nice-pretty lady is thankful for each other too!" _

THE END

The last chapter has come! So, what did you all think? Reviews would be very helpful in the continuation of my fic-writing hobby. I am thrilled about this fic; it has become a favorite of mine to write. I thank you all for reading and reviewing. Right now, I have a massive fic idea in the making (when I say 'massive', I'm thinking along the lines of more than twenty chapters…). It will be for Pokémon, of course, and I hope you guys will be along for that journey, as well. I've also got a couple of one-shot shipping ideas, but I'm still toying with those. And I also have plans to complete the other two fics that I have on here. Either way, I hope you guys will stay tuned for my other upcoming writings, as well as my current ones.

Until you read again!

~MastermindMedley10


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